The scenes taking place in a far future Eurodisney basically made the book for me, McAuley's vision of a rundown and ramshackle former childrens paradise being changed into a place of forboding evil is probably one of the strongest SF images of the last five years or so . . . and the best part is that the book is about much more than that. McAuley is one of those rare writers that refuses to do the same trick over and over again (much like the highly recommended Ian Banks), and this book is no exception. In a not too distant future, McAuley imagines a gritty world with tons of throwaway details and some extrapolation of technology, one of those being "dolls" basically soulless little people. When a maker of designer drugs gets involved with a young girl who wishes to give the dolls sentience, he succeeds but the results aren't quite what anyone expected. McAuley's writing is densely descriptive and has an urgency that fits the story well, the plot moves forward steadily and with increasing interest as events start to pile on each others. He has this habit of starting a section by introducing people who are completely new to the story and then going with them for a bit, while this serves to give us other views of the situation, it also has the effect of sometimes slowing the plot down for a bit while you try to process everything. Still, his world is beautifully rendered with plenty to keep even casual readers interested and lots of other ideas and extras that serve to enhance his reputation as one of the more fascinating SF new writers to come along the pipeline in a while.

I felt compelled to write this after reading the reviews of this novel (the exception being the bloke from Newcastle).

What drew me into this novel is not just the Bladerunner meets Ribofunk imagery, but the almost travelogue quality of the narrative. From the tropical 21st century London, the slums in the shadows Eurodisney and the Parisian arcologies, and the still war torn Balkans, Fairyland reads like Robert Kaplan's travelogue _The Ends of the Earth_ thrown 50 years into the future. Also, this is science fiction that isn't fixated on an extrapolation of science (though McAuley does an excellent job with biotech and a disturbing view of biological AI), but also provides a realistic, if disturbing view of society and politics (the Serbian conflict fought with smart bullets and polymers, the Second American Civil War initiated by fundamentalists, and those are just the throwaway asides). For those interested in hard science fiction that is interested in more than just technology and testosterone, go buy this book. Also, if you enjoyed Greg Bear's _Queen of Angels_, you will definitely enjoy this novel.

i found the book hilarious. the author writes, "Milena walked over to the table." Ha ha ha ha ha. thats just one example of the comedy weaved into this witty, witty book.

Electrifying and shocking, (McAuley's) WHOLE WIDE WORLD is a terrific blend of John Grisham, Tom Clancy, and Orwell's 1984. One of the best suspense SF novels around! Gary S. Potter Author/Poet

Paul McAuley's _Whole Wide World_ is a science fiction/murder mystery, and works well as both. A young woman is murdered, her computers destroyed, and then we discover the crime was broadcast on her website. Our narrator really fills the bill as an anti-hero; short, disrespected, dumped by his girlfriend, demoted from detective work to a do-nothing police support division. He is pulled into this crime when asked to pick up and examine the computers, and finds he cannot stay away from the case.

McAuley sets the book in in London, maybe eight years from now. Cameras cover every block, and a vast AI ties them together. A terrorist virus has crippled all computer networks, and most haven't recovered completly. Social mores have gotten more restrictive; porn is completely illegal, and foreign books/movies/magazines censored. And London is hot and uncomfortable, with screens and mesh everywhere (presumably to keep out virus-carrying mosquitoes, but never specifically mentioned), more like New Orleans than the UK.

Our hero must handle colleagues who wish him ill and try to keep him away from the case, the victim's uncle who invented the CCTV AI system and has too many secrets, his absent girlfriend who can't decide what to do with him, and a series of taunting emails from the possible perp. Like all good mysteries, each question answered leads to five more; each suspect checked out only implicates formerly trusted people. McAuley does a great job ratcheting up the tension as our unnamed protagonist tries to win his good name back. The descriptions of near-future London were well-written and disturbing enough to linger for days. And the issues raised about privacy will keep you thinking long after you put the book down.

A great read for SF readers, mystery fans, and computer geeks.

Since the Infowars, English Detective Inspector John ? has been plagued by his doubts and shuffled into the remote bowels of British crime enforcement. In this dystopic near-future, England and much of the world are overrun by computer viruses, networked security cameras that can track and identify nearly anyone, and new morality laws that forbid virtually everything, even requiring editing of Disney movies before they pass the censors.

But murder is still a crime and Sophie Booth's murder is the DI's chance to reclaim active status in the police. It was a particularly nasty murder--complete with torture and finally a knifing. Worse, it was broadcast over the net and only one viewer bothered to notify the police. As the DI investigates, he begins to believe that the crime is not the straighforward murder it is made out to be. Finding the killer may not be enough to unveil the entire crime. As the police force turns against him, the DI is forced underground, taking chances that put him outside the pale.

Author Paul McAuley writes a tense SF mystery. The near-future environment he describes feels real and possible. For the most part, his technological crime advances ring true. The DI is well motivated and carefully drawn. His relationship with the missing Julie adds to his humanity and the violence of the crime motivates his extreme thirst for justice.

Okay, so, I used to be kinda leery of the way the recommendation software seems like it's trying hard to be your friend...I was like, hey, I'll find my own way around, thanks. But then, in a moment of weakness, I followed the link to Paul McAuley's "Eternal Light" when it was recommended to me after I had looked up some other space-opera-like titles. And even though it's currently out of print (which i agree is a shame), i lucked up on a used copy, and now i have to say, the recommendation software seems to know me pretty well by now, 'cause i really liked this book a lot, even though i had never heard of McAuley before. What I liked so much about "Eternal Light" were the strong characterizations, the ins-and-outs of the intriguing plot, and the extra-groovy settings, especially the colorful city of Urbis on Titan. The story did throw me just a little toward the end, when it seemed to roll right on past the climax into a long decline...but, that's not really a complaint, 'cause it was a fun ride the whole way, and i didn't mind spending extra time with the protagonists. Oh, and the aliens were interesting, the mind-blowing hyper-whatsits totally mind-blowing in just the right way, and the echoes of space operas past felt nice...all in all, a fine read for a long spell of midwinter cabin fever. So I guess what I'm saying is, hey Mr. or Ms. Book Publisher, you all oughta print up a few more of this title, to let other folks in on the magic of Mr. McAuley's wild imagination.

Criminally out of print, this was the book that catapulted McAuley into the science fiction spotlight, I believe this was preceded by two books (making this the third of a trilogy) that were entertaining but mediocre genre SF and indeed there are several references to events that I can only assume happened in previous books but you really don't notice. Just start reading and dive in. Attempting to describe the plot is probably pointless because there are so many threads and details, needless to say it deals with the center of the galaxy and god-like intelligences and the people who want to use that sort of stuff for their own benefits. And science. Lots of it. These people all do weird things that seem to defy science and McAuley has no problem making it all seem probable. Heck his science seems to make sense so I guess he knows what he's talking about. Go figure. Basically you just let yourself get carried along, the characters are fairly memorable (if a tad flat at points) and frankly he drags out the ending just a little bit, the book should have ended about fifty pages before it actually does but he needs to wrap it up somehow I guess. Alas, it's close to the peaks already set by hypercomplicated science freaks Dan Simmons (read Hyperion! Now!) and Peter Hamilton but their books hang together a little better and don't depend as much on the visceral rush of reading the book. Nevertheless this was a major leap for McAuley and one of the best SF books of the decade easily. You won't be sorry for tracking this one down.

This is a detective novel in the spirit of Sherlock Holmes in an alternate history setting. The alternate history is fine, but the closed room murder mistery is lifted out of a very famous early detective story and should be immediately recognizable to any mistery novel aficionado. Still, it's a fun read.

Pasquale's Angel is set in Florence, in 1518, but history has not gone quite as it did in our own world. Leonardo da Vinci became interested in mechanics and science, not art; the Medici are not returned to power in Florence, and indeed Savonarola is still alive; and Machiavelli (spelled Machiavegli here), instead of falling from favour when the Medici return, as happened in our world, is brought down from power by the suspicion that he is a Medici sympathizer.

However, a reduced Machiavegli has opportunities he did not have in our world. Da Vinci's focus on science has brought Renaissance Florence technologies from the printing press to engines of war, and Machiavegli has become a journalist.

The protagonist, Pasquale, is a young artist, and art is big business and major politics in this world. A major figure is murdered, and Pasquale and Machiavegli get on the tracks of a conspiracy. Pretty soon the conspiracy is on to them, and the book is a fairly straightforward thriller after that.

The period detail is good, and the ways in which the new technologies have changed and yet not changed the world are well-imagined. The characters occasionally sound more like twentieth century actors wearing period costumes, but McAuley maintains the tone pretty well, and he's a clean, transparent writer, without clumsiness or affectation.

On the plot level, there are a couple of implausibilities. When you finally find out how the locked room murder was committed, a couple of fairly serious problems with the explanation will doubtless occur to you as they did to me. The conspiracy does seem a little hydra-headed and all-seeing; in places the book starts to sound like Eco's "Foucault's Pendulum", and not in a good way. But Pasquale is a good character, and the book is a satisfying though not exceptional read.

I don't know enough about Italian history (which is probably sad, being that I'm Italian) to say definitely where history went wacky and we got this book but I can say that this is definitely a book that can be worth your time. McAuley has turned into one of the more versatile and consistent authors around, especially in SF. He may not be world shatteringly exceptional but he rarely repeats himself and his writing is clear and concise, not relying on complicated narrative structure or knotted sentences. Here he presents a gritty, almost industrial age Italy where Da Vinci didn't really go into art but instead made lots of engineering feats and kick started a whole lot of things before they should have been kicked into starting. Pasquale is a young artist who happens to be drawn into the murder of one of the assistents of the "immortal" (ignore the book jacket when it says that, he's as mortal as everyone else) Rapheal. He is joined by a reporter who used to be a noted political figure before his downfall (I won't even try spelling his name) and together they try to piece together what turns out to be a large conspiracy that is apparently everywhere. McAuley does a great job of churning out a first rate murder mystery, plots and suspects rebound with apparent ease and your head is spinning by both his great attention to period detail and almost left field plot twists. However, at some point the conspiracy gets so complicated that it stops making sense at all and towards the end you're probably going to start scratching your head and wondering what the heck is going on. Don't fret, buckle down and keep going and while everyone might not be explained to your satisifaction, McAuley manages to pull a resolution out that makes everyone mostly worthwhile. McAuley's an author that instead of stunning us with one far out book, has steadily and swiftly built up a solid record of varied and entertaining science-fiction/fantasy, and if this book is any indication, his track record should hold long into the future.

This book of short stories was my first experience with McAuley -- which meant that I experienced severe cognitive dissonance. McAuley is one of those writers (like C.J. Cherryh, in her decades-old "Faded Sun" series) who creates a world so different from the one we presently live in that it's sometimes hard to understand what's going on. But after a few stories, one becomes accustomed to the terminology and the ideas, and the plots and philosophies start to become clear. Indeed, the work shortly becomes compelling.

I'm not sure that this was the best introduction to McAuley, but I'm glad I read it. I must confess, however, that I particularly enjoyed the stories that were not in the "dolls and fairies" milieu, such as the story about Dr. Pretorius (which I found eerily fascinating, and very reminiscent in tone, if not in content, to Tim Powers's work). I am now very much looking forward to reading "Children of the Confluence" and McAuley's other novels.

The story of Confluence flows like the great river..., unmitigated..., through three volumes.

Like any larger story, it suffers from a slowing in the middle. The Act II doldrums, I have heard them called. In 'Child of the River', Yama and the world of Confluence are fresh and bright. In 'Ancients of Days', Yama and the world of Confluence are weather-worn and trodden. The path has been set, and now it must be followed.

The beauty of Paul McAuley's writing still seeps from the pages in a way that forces you to yearn for the hardcover copy. Like the 'Puranas' - the Confluence version of the Bible, though greater and more aged - there is a kind of wonderment in just the words. But unlike 'Child of the River', there is a meticulous pondering in Book Two: a foraging for story. It is there, embedded within its philosopy on religion, thought, and science - in that order - that the simplicities of religion are easily expunged, the encouragement of questioning easily inititiated, but the psuedo(?)-constants of scientific fact more difficulty tackled; as being 'constants', they have arisen before... Is it possible to have a new idea?

McAueley entertains, undoubtedly, and forces thought simultaneously. This alone makes for an engaging read. But amongst the beautiful imaginings and descriptions, the talents are hightened a great deal.

So what are the faults? A little expectation of the unexpected not met. A little too much of the far-fetched 'omega-point-theory' mixed in with an otherwise previously unimagined outcome of universal life. And a little too little wind along the Great River.

That said, one must not judge the parts as a whole.

On to 'Shrine of Stars'

Read this book (and the first of the series) for the wonder of experiencing a unique world as it unfolds through the naive eyes of our reluctant hero-to-be Yama.

The construct world of Confluence and the variety of societies and species of "men" and machines that inhabit it, brings to mind Rama on steroids. Yamas ongoing discoveries about his world and its history are the real story here. Which is lucky, since the plot is rather predictable (young naive man with odd powers is center of conflict between warring sides trying to control him.) The world of Confluence was so enjoyable, I would have given the books 5 stars if the so called plot had possessed ANY originality.

So, if you require a riveting, page turning, read through the night plot you need to pass this series up. If you are a big science fiction/fantasy fan who enjoys new worlds and the time effects that turn facts into myths and legends you will enjoy a romp through Confluence with Yama.

I enjoyed this book more than his first. McAuley got around to explaining how all came into being and now a lot of it makes more sense. I recommend this series for those who are waiting for the next Jordan (Wheel of Time) book. Yama reminds me of Rand (e.g. people want to kill/serve him and people are afraid of his powers and some want to use him).

I was a great fan of the first two novels in this trilogy of Confluence. The third and final novel in McAuley's telling of the Confluence is a mixed bag with a beginning similarly well written, but an ending that is unsatisfying to the reader.

McAuley seems to compress far too much in Shrine of Stars, rather than let the story build it's way to a finale, he jams so many scenarios and near misses that the reader becomes a little jaded towards the end. Time after time the antagonist(s) reappear after you think they have been eliminated. The effect is that you're never surprised that another antagonist shows up again (in fact the question becomes: which one will appear next?).

But most importantly McAuley lets the reader down. After almost three books where Yama looks for his human bloodline, the results are disappointing and not really worthy of the buildup the author coaxes the reader to expect.

One wants to know more about humanity: what happened, why and so on. Instead the meeting becomes another mini-adventure in a trilogy of mini-adventures that ends in disaster for humans. And still there's no really fulfilling explaination of the past. After three novels what a disappointment! The ultimate end is of an unsatisfying "loop of time" variety.

There is a part in Shrine of Stars where Dimas tells Yama that he can tell him all about the history of humanity, why Confluence exists and what exactly happened. Yama's reply is that he doesn't want to know.

Yama might not want to know, but the reader does.

I haven't read Paul McAuley's other books in his Confluence trilogy, but he is certainly deserving of praise as one of the better writers working in Anglo-American science fiction. That said, however, I did not find "Shrine of Stars" as mesmerizing or as profound as Dan Simmons' "Hyperion" saga or Gene Wolfe's science fantasy series, such as the "Book of the New Urth". Science fiction fans interested in reading great literature that's thematically similar to McAuley's Confluence trilogy would be well advised to read instead the works of Simmons and Wolfe. Yet those interested solely in entertainment should find McAuley's work both pleasurable and intriguing.

First, one must clarify and emphasis the total and complete dependence "Shrine of Stars" has to the preceding volumes of Confluence. For those of you that are considering reading this book, it will not make sense unless you read "Child of the River" and "Ancients of Days" first. In fact, I see little reason (except for girth) that these weren't published as a single volume with a few of the 'remember from the last volume' details edited out.

On to the books. One reviewer commented that too much is jammed into this third volume, and I agree. What one ends up with is almost a series of intensely imaginative summaries. The locales change so frequently, as do the flora and fauna. Each environment is so different than the last, and eachis packed with enough loving details to support a novel of its own. The magic McAuley is able to display works its best in "Child of the River". There, the pacing is right for the language of description and the wonders of Confluence. In "Ancients of Days", one gets the sense that McAuley is rushing to the end... too excited and unable to withhold his 'big idea ending'. And as for that, the ending isn't really a big idea. It's an old, well-trodden idea. Upon the book's completion, I felt similar to many of the other reviewers: cheated by what felt masterfully tacked on; underwhelmed by what should have been explosively overwhelming. But upon reflection, I see the wisdom of it. The ending serves its on perfect purpose. It wraps the work and the place of Confluence up into an egg-like shell, giving birth to imagination and a galaxy ready for life.

If there is such a thing as a premature opus, this is it. The moments of Confluence that are so terrible are only so because the rest is so good. No reader of imaginative and thought provoking fiction should go without reading this trilogy at least once. If anything, just for the beautiful writing that is so rare in the genre.

I enjoyed the literary style of the writer. The story was alright, however I thought it was pretty predictable-no real surprises on the different character roles or what the overall conclusion is bound to be. The world of the confluence is a wonderful concept and was delightful to read about from a fantasy standpoint, but there are the typical plot twists that have become sort of the "norm" in SF ,ie the bad guys are really the good guys and the good guys are really the bad guys; hero is from a special background which gives him special powers to deal with any situation even though he can't think of anything to do; everybody knows all about him but nobody will tell him (even though it might be pretty obvious to the reader by this time). It's OK.

McAuley invents great backdrops, inventions and moods in his first book of the Confluence trilogy. The City of the Dead gives the reader chills with the dust, isolation and silent videos that activate as visitors stroll by the tombs.

Most of this books races with adventure at a fast pace. A few chapters slow down the action, but only for the reader to catch his breathe.

McCauley does well in keeping the plot from making puppets out of the characters. Yama has an obvious goal: he wants to find his people, or at least who his people were. The characters are likable, but some are cliches--Dr. Dismas or Tamara, for example. Ananda and Pandaras, two different characters whose appearances don't overlap in this book, seem to be too much alike. Overall, however, the characters will endear the reader to this series.

Don't expect Child of the River to be a complete story. The three books in this series may have been only one when the author planned it, but the publisher's marketing department may have seen fit to present this story as a trilogy. I am eager to finish this series and am willing to reserve final judgement until after I read the final chapter. Worth your time for a fun afternoon of speculative fiction.

'Child of the River' is a great novel.

Paul McAuley has created an amazing universe, one where the tropes of fantasy fiction interact with all of the gizmos and gadgets of the hardest SF. The protagonist, Yama, discovers that he's not like the others..that on a world that contains 500 different species, there's no one else like him. So Yama wants to discover who he is and where he came from...and why he's able to command machines.

McAuley is a master wordsmith. The words meld together and form an incredible tapestry. The reader feels as though he's present in McAuley's universe. And really, any book that contains men fencing with chainsaws has to be worth reading. I couldn't put the book down. McAuley has taken a place on my Must-Read list. Highly recommended.

A book about Mars, should be interesting, right? Wrong! This book starts slow, stays slow and coasts to a stop at turtle speed. It takes the reader awhile to catch on to the social and political climate of the solar system since McAuley doesn't straight out tell you until later. Everyone is chasing Wei Lee because he's a threat to their plans. Gee, really exciting! As you can probably tell, there's not much of a plot. I congratulate myself for the willpower to stay with this book for 400 pages without throwing it in the trash. The book is tedious, very tedious. I recommend it only for insomniacs. A sure cure!

Red Dust is a novel of a terraformed Mars set about 600 years into the future. A young man named Lee traverses Mars in an adventure of intrigue, surrounded by events that nearly overwhelm him. A young woman drops from space in a small pod to the surface of Mars carrying special viruses which are really nanotech devices, and she infects Lee with them, starting a chain of events beyond Lee's control and immediate understanding. The plot is complicated with many political groups trying to gain control, with their own agendas....sounds familiar, does'nt it! The novel incorporates a couple of cultural icons from our time, it is interesting how they are revered and distorted in this far flung future.

This novel was copyrighted in 1993 so it is one of the earlier novels to use nantechnology as an integral part of the story. Paul McAuley also portrays an artificial reality in which many people choose to die and go to. McAuley writes, it appears to me, that man still struggles with himself, even 600 years into the future, that prophecy is almost sure to come true as we seem to have an innate ability and desire to fight among ourselves.

McAuley in this novel sometimes writes in a vague and discordant manner, which makes reading a bit difficult at times, and a reader has to pay attention to a lot of details to keep proper track of the plot. Also, I personally feel the novel could have been 30-40 pages shorter, as there are long dull stretches here and there.

This book took me longer to read that any other recently, mostly because every chapter or so everything seem to change - new characters etc..). Lots to digest - thoroughly enjoyable... J

Having read - and thoroughly enjoyed - the Confluence trilogy, I picked up Secret of Life without even scanning it. Had I peeked,I would have realized that it's the type of sci-fi I have particular trouble with - where the science and technology are the real protagonists, not the human characters (or alien/ artificial intelligences).

The characters are 2-dimensional and largely unpleasant. As a woman, I found the main character Mariella particularly unpalatable (the book reviewer above must have been a man) - a generally unpleasant arrogant individual who's a man's vision of a 'liberated' woman (she mechanically has sex with anyone she meets in a bar, in every other chapter). Ugh.

To enjoy a book, a reader must identify with someone in it. The science is interesting - but I find I just can't finish this one.

I found McAuley's Secret of Life to be both a disappointing and difficult read. It's disappointing because the premise is excellent. A Martian organism with the ability to evolve rapidly by modifying its own DNA is released on Earth. Many exciting possibilities are immediately raised and the opening chapter is full of excitement and drama. The story follows our heroine as she attempts to retrieve a live sample of the organism from Mars and then her efforts to study the organism and release those results to the scientific community.

But the truth is the story fails to explore many of the scientific possibilities of this premise. The organism languishes passively in the ocean, while the story focuses on preaching for the virtue of open science versus the evilness of big corporations. As a scientist myself, this is something I certainly would agree with...but really didn't find anything very new added to this discussion. The science is so "good" and the corporation is so "bad" there's really no tension.

The other major complaint I had (you might not be as annoyed by this) is the writing style. This is my first time reading a book by McAuley and I felt it would have been much better at about 250 pages than the 400+ that it weighs in at. All too often extraneous paragraphs are tossed in on subjects utterly unrelated to the story. Here's a simple example (one of many). The heroine is discussing with someone how they should travel together. The other poor fool mentions something about horses and we then get a paragraph as our heroine internally recalls her childhood pony. What it's name was. How she loved it, etc. They then decide to take a car. In the right hands this could lead to greater character depth...but I found it mostly to be just filler and ended up skipping over many paragraphs like this.

The exception is the section on Mars which is tightly written and full of interesting ideas and tense situations. Sadly for me that portion was drowned out by the meanderings on Earth and the overall lecturing tone of the book.

In 2026, humanity faces a new crisis. There is a humongous biological growth in the Pacific that threatens to destroy the food chain. NASA believes that the Slick is a result of a find by the Chinese on the Martian polar cap. Microbiologist Mariella Anders joins a team of scientists investigating the Martian northern icecap to determine what the Chinese actually uncovered.

However, the idealistic Mariella must contend with bottom line scientist Penn Brown of Cytex, who wants to monopolize whatever is discovered, especially the means to eradicate Slick. On Mars, the Chinese team working at the site where the organism was originally found flees the area as they are now contaminated. The NASA team finds samples of the original organism and Mariella makes a desperate effort to return them to earth, alienating Cytex, the Chinese, and NASA.

THE SECRET OF LIFE is an engaging science fiction novel that once again shows how talented Paul McAuley is in getting his message across within an entertaining plot. Mr. McAuley rips extremists on either side of scientific discovery through his intrepid lead character. The greed and the ban without debate types are skewered and ridiculed for their intolerance towards the common good. However, the secret to what enables Mr. McAuley's books (see his Confluence stories) so good is he rips skin, but does so inside a believable, terse futuristic tale.

Harriet Klausner